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Rise of the Tomb Raider: it’s not that lost

Posted on 08/05/2024 Written by Xexyz

Well, Jonah didn’t last long. Trinity had the atlas which meant they looked to see where the Divine Source was, and discovered it was under a glacier. A shootout saw Jonah badly injured, and Jacob demonstrated his marvellous healing skills. Turns out he’s a bit special. This set up the thrilling climax of the game – our objective is in the Lost City; I’m going in through the secret entrance, and Trinity’s going to try going in by force through the glacier. It’s a race against time.

Well, except it’s not, because the next urgent thing doesn’t happen until you reach the next checkpoint. But still.

I was warned about the Deathless Ones. I’d seen them briefly before, when running up a large statue of the Prophet which I’d caused to fall over, but the Lost City is where they protect. When I first heard the villagers talking of the Deathless Ones I must admit my eyes rolled – yet another game where you get to fight zombies – but having encountered them while progressing through the city they’re really just another faction of soldiers, with less advanced weaponry but better armour. Because of the checkpointing system, I spent a lot of time sneaking up on the enemies and killing them from behind, or using the handily-positioned fire jars to explode them. There were a couple of big fights where hiding was not an option, but even then using the bow meant that few got close enough to actually fight.

I fought through the lower city, using a trebuchet to break down a gate; I then found another gate which also needed to be destroyed, using two different trebuchets in the area. Lots of Deathless Ones abounded. I reached a tower, at the top of which is the Divine Source – and then Trinity broke through the glacier.

The last half hour has been action-packed, with Trinity and Deathless Dudes fighting each other and me climbing the outside of the tower. Sofia turned up to help, firing one of the trebuchets at the advancing Trinity soldiers. I am concerned that I’ve reached the end of the battle with severely depleted ammunition, although I can at least craft arrows using my stocks of wood and feathers. Only the last battle to go.

I do appreciate the signposting of the point of no return. I am now in two minds – do I travel back to another area to stock up with ammunition, or do I play through as the story demands, straight to what I assume to be the point at which Konstantin gets his comeuppance? Something to sleep on.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: Playstation 4

Sküljagger (Evercade): COMPLETED!

Posted on 05/05/2024 Written by deKay

Sküljagger (no, I’d never heard of it either) is a Bad Game. Originally a SNES game which seemed to have been completely ignored at the time, it’s yet another 16-bit platform with literally nothing going for it. It seems to have a pirate theme or maybe a viking theme or who actually knows, or cares? You have a sword and have platforms to navigate. Wow. Even at the time this can’t have been more than a 5/10 title.

It’s janky and the collision detection is rubbish, the levels are dull and repetitive, enemies appear out of nowhere to kill you, there are several power-ups all of which are useless, and the walls of text between levels are badly written. Or translated? Or both.

So why did I play it to the end? Because I don’t know. Don’t judge me.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: completed, Diary, evercade, retro

Gal Guardians: Demon Purge (Switch): COMPLETED!

Posted on 05/05/2024 Written by deKay

Why yes, this is another Metroidvania style game! And yes, it’s another one based on a different game, this time Gal*Gun by Inti Creates. Inti Creates, who have made some of my favourite platformers (including some other Metroidvanias) like Azure Striker Gunvolt and Blaster Master Zero. Of course I’m going to buy it.

The ‘hing with Demon Purge, which differentiates it from all the other “explore a castle” games is that you control two characters at once, each with different skills and abilities. The two main differences are that one has a gun, and so can attack from a distance, and the other wields ningyogami (or something similar) in a way that essentially works like a sword. Also, one has half the health of the other.

The story takes the characters from Gal*Gun (which I don’t know), sticks them in a school, and then in that usual Japanese way the school itself becomes a portal into some other world full of demons and monsters. Same old story. You have to rescue your classmates, unlocking new abilities like a hover, an air dash, and a grappling hook as you progress and using them to reach new areas and secrets. Like all the other Metroidvanias.

If you’re a fan of the genre, like me, this is great. It’s fun, a bit unusual, and even has references to Castlevania (like the clock tower and the long external staircase to the final boss). There’s also a secret ending if you do certain side quests, which I managed to do.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: completed, Diary, metroidvania, switch

Rise of the Tomb Raider: a battle and a discovery

Posted on 02/05/2024 Written by Xexyz

I journeyed through the mountain and found the geothermal valley, where Jacob’s people live. This was a large area to explore, with some parts barricaded off with obtrusive spiked gates. After running some varied errands, including helping to reinforce guard towers, a big battle occurred with helicopters dropping waves of enemies, none of whom seemed to be able to kill Lara. They killed many others, it seems, but that was a pre-ordained conclusion, and I felt no sense of urgency while pushing through the linear path. Indeed, I knew there’d be no progress in action until I reached the next checkpoint, so with the sounds of gunfire and screams of torture around me I frequently went looking for coins or relics I’d passed, or spend time reading random documents left on the path.

Rise of the Tomb Raider
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Rise of the Tomb Raider

While the game is overall relatively coherent, there is a clear distinction between different gameplay types. There are combat sections, exploration sections, and puzzle sections. The last two of these are slightly combined, with the need sometimes to climb on certain things to progress. The second one has the occasional danger from wildlife, but you can tell when this happens because Lara suddenly crouches and moves stealthily rather than just running as usual, and the music suddenly gets all exciting. Similarly, during the combat sections, once you have killed the last enemy, even if you aren’t aware it’s the last one, Lara will suddenly stand upright and the music will finish. At least this meant I wasn’t swimming under the ice for hours waiting to see if anyone was still there to shoot me.

I am compelled to continue through the story, partially because I am intrigued as to what the Divine Source may be, and partially because it will mean that I’ve unlocked all the equipment and abilities and I won’t, for example, spend ten minutes climbing up a wall and jumping between platforms to get to a cave entrance, only to find I need breathing apparatus to swim along the tunnel.

Speaking of which, guess what I’ve got now. I’d better go back and find that cave again.

Anyway, I have travelled into the cathedral and found the atlas, which isn’t a Collins reference book, but instead is a pentagonal dodecahedron which shines light through and projects a map of the city. That shows you where the Divine Source is, and a secret path to get there. Jacob seems to know already. I’ve also met up with Jonah, who was saved from the storms by Jacob’s people, but who was then captured by Trinity. I’m back off now to rescue him from the gulag.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: Playstation 4

May 2024 Update – Sushi Diving

Posted on 01/05/2024 Written by gospvg

Playing NOW

Dave The Diver (PS5)

This was on my Playing Future list last month & perfect timing that it was added to PS+ this month. 

What starts off as a simple collect fish make sushi game very rapidly develops to introduce lots of story content and additional systems to manage. The enjoyable three stage day cycle loops perfectly to allow you to enjoy fishing in the morning & afternoon or tackle one of the many side quests before getting ready to manage the sushi restaurant in the evening ensuring you focus on keeping your customers happy while maximizing profits so you can upgrade either the restaurant, your gear or shop for items.


Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 (PS5)

Firstly to start off with some disappointing news, in that Epic has gotten rid of the XP gains with the ranked mode for Rocket Racing. You can now only gain a small amount of XP with the daily quests. Unfortunately this has stopped me playing and I'm just enjoying Zero Build. The advantage with the first season was I could enjoy Rocket Racing but also level up the battle pass in the process.

An Avatar mini pass was added to add an Aang skin & Appa Glider, this was very easy to complete even if some of the quests were reliant on you getting lucky to arrive at a temple early enough to collect the bending scroll.


Playing Complete

Final Fantasy 7 Remake (PS5)

There is far too much side content in the game and I took the decision in Chapter 8 to ignore it all and only enjoy the main quest. There are section of the main quest that force you to use certain characters and their abilities, some of these can be frustrating & I was glad when I got back to playing as Cloud. It culminates in a "epic finale" and now the long wait begins for the last game in the trilogy. Final Fantasy 7 Reunion.


Playing Next

My aim is to focus on games released this year first before looking at my backlog. Hopefully I will get lucky and 2024 releases will keep getting added to PS+ or GamePass like Dave the Diver this month.

Looking through my last month post, other potential 2024 releases I'm interested in playing are Rise of Ronin, Open Roads, The Plucky Squire, Banishers Ghosts of New Eden, Death Stranding 2, Metal Gear Solid Delta, Star Wars Outlaws, Balatro & Sandland. I expect some of these may well get delayed to 2025.

I have many games in my backlog but looking forward to playing Spiderman2, Judgement, Lost Judgement, Outer Wilds, Shadow Tactics, Like A Dragon Ishin & Sea of Stars.

Midnight Suns has been added to PS+ & Star Wars Jedi Survivor to GamePass. I also need to at least give Starfield an attempt to see if it clicks.

That leaves Baldurs Gate 3,Cyberpunk 2077 & Shadow Gambit Cursed Crew on my shopping list.

Enjoy your gaming & remember you are never too old to play video games.

Filed Under: Gaming Diary Tagged With: completed, Dave The Diver, final fantasy, Fortnite, Playstation 5

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96: Magic Beans
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What is this word “late” which you are saying? I do not recognise it and I do not understand it and I do not wish to believe it exists! Episode 96 cannot be late, for it was never scheduled. Sir, you embarrass yourself.

Arguments about timetabling aside, we would like to invite you to enjoy this most recent (at time of typing) episode of your favourite podcast! deKay, Kendrick and Orrah huddled round a warm bucket of cocoa and discussed, to varying lengths, the important news of our time – including Nintendo’s Mario Direct, more unfortunate developers losing their jobs because Money, Microsoft increasing the price of Game Pass (again, because Money) and Starbreeze getting several years into developing an eagerly anticipated Dungeons & Dragons game before pulling the plug because, well, Money. Thankfully, there’s some Good Stuff too, like chat about these games.

96: Magic Beans
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95: Bother Me Anatomically
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94: Secrete Yellow Ooze From Their Knees
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